Iron deficiency in infancy negatively impacts a variety of neurodevelopmental processes at the time of nutrient insufficiency, with persistent central nervous system alterations and deficits in behavioral functioning, despite iron therapy. In rodent models, early iron deficiency impairs the hippocampus and the dopamine system. We examined the possibility that young adults who had experienced chronic, severe iron deficiency as infants would exhibit deficits on neurocognitive tests with documented frontostriatal (Trail Making Test, Intra-/Extra-dimensional Shift, Stockings of Cambridge, Spatial Working Memory, Rapid Visual Information Processing) and hippocampal specificity (Pattern Recognition Memory, Spatial Recognition Memory). Participants with chronic, severe iron deficiency in infancy performed less well on frontostriatal-mediated executive functions, including inhibitory control, set-shifting, and planning. There was also evidence of impairment on a hippocampus-based recognition memory task. We suggest that these deficits may result from the long-term effects of early iron deficiency on the dopamine system, the hippocampus, and their interaction.

This study investigated sociocultural norms for height, weight, and body shape by analyzing 481 personal ads in a large metropolitan city magazine to determine self‐report characteristics of males and females seeking companionship as well as the desired height, weight, and shape characteristics of the person being sought. Seventy percent of ads specified weight, shape, or height characteristics and of those ads most were heterosexual Caucasian males and females. Male searchers described themselves as tall, fit, and athletic, but of average weight. Female searchers described themselves as petite or tall and fit with body weight as significantly less (89.4%) than the ideal body weight. Male searchers sought females 5 years younger, thin, fit, petite or tall. Women seekers sought men 3 years older, tall, fit, and athletic. These ads confirmed the use of stereotyped and highly athletic body size and shape for self‐descriptions and for characteristics of companions sought. © 1993 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.